The Simpsons Fired the Guy Who Scored the Show for 27 Years

Alf Clausen composed music for 567 episodes going back to Season 2.

By Matthew Oshinsky  |  August 30, 2017 | 9:52pm
Music Features The Simpsons
The Simpsons Fired the Guy Who Scored the Show for 27 Years

Alf Clausen, a two-time Emmy Award-winning composer who has scored The Simpsons for 27 years, has been fired from the show, Variety reports.

Clausen, who’s earned 30 Emmy nominations in total, says he was told by producers that the show is looking for “a different kind of music.”

Clausen is credited on 567 episodes of The Simpsons since joining the show during Season 2 in 1990. He won his Emmys in 1997 and 1998 for writing the songs “We Put the Spring in Springfield” (from the 1997 episode “Bart After Dark”) and “You’re Checkin’ In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford Center),” (from the 1998 episode “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”), respectively.

Before he joined The Simpsons, he scored music for such shows as Alf (yes, really), The Critic and Moonlighting. He also did the music for the 1998 stoner classic Half Baked.

Clausen directed a 35-piece orchestra every week on The Simpsons at huge cost, and Variety reports that his dismissal was likely a cost-cutting maneuver. Don’t worry, though: Danny Elfman’s “Simpsons” theme is probably sticking around.

The 29th season of The Simpsons begins Oct. 1 on FOX.

 
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